Sudan normalises its relations with Israel
Two days ago, an Israeli delegation visited Sudan and everything indicated that this trip had a clear objective: the normalisation of relations with another Arab country.
In addition, the United States has made official visits to Khartoum since late summer, including a visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The steps taken by the US administration to normalise relations have been judicious: first by removing Sudan from its blacklist of states that support terrorism, and then by announcing loud and clear the new alliance of its Middle East ally, Israel, with another Arab country.
The leaders agreed to normalize relations between Sudan and Israel and to end the state of belligerence between their nations," the White House said Friday, adding that the decision "will contribute to regional security and provide new opportunities for the people of Sudan, Israel, the Middle East and Africa.
In a statement following the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the historic Arab League summit in Khartoum after the end of the Six Day War in 1967, where participants pledged not to sign a peace agreement with Israel, not to recognize it and not to start negotiations.
"Today, Khartoum says yes to peace with Israel, yes to the recognition of Israel and yes to normalization with Israel," he said, describing the agreement as the beginning of a "new era" of peace with Arab countries.
According to the White House statement, the Israeli and Sudanese delegations will meet in the coming weeks to "negotiate cooperation agreements" in areas such as technology, agriculture, aviation and migration, while Israel and the United States "are committed to working" to strengthen democracy in Sudan, as well as the fight against terrorism and extremism.
Sudan's transitional government said Friday that the agreement reached to normalise relations with Israel will have to be ratified by the Legislative Council, which has not yet been formed.
"We will wait until Sudan's democratic institutions, including the Parliament, are formed to decide on the ratification of this agreement to normalize relations," Foreign Minister Omar Qamaraldin told the state news agency Suna.
De-listing is one of the top priorities of Sudan's transitional government, which has been in power since August last year following the military removal of President Omar al-Bashir after months of protests against his government. A U.S. executive branch source told Reuters news agency that negotiations on Sudan's sequestration of a $335 million deal for victims of al-Qaida attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 are expected to be concluded within the next two days.
Following the payment of Sudanese compensation to the US victims, the removal from the blacklist has become effective.
Since the overthrow of al-Bashir, relations with Washington have improved considerably and relations with Israel, always a sensitive issue with the Arab country, have also been normalised. In February, Al-Burhan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda. The meeting was condemned by most Sudanese during demonstrations, and raised some doubts about the normalisation of ties, although Israeli planes have begun to fly over Sudan.
